Evangelize With Love...

Evangelize with Love!

Faithful Evangelism vs. Realistic Dealing w/ the World

Some very orthodox "preachers", (at times our humble self might appear being one of them), seem all bent about obliterating all manner of interest with the goods of the earth or any goodness whatsoever about physical or natural life. They have the mind-set that all the world is condemned, and worthless. They exact purity about the business of learning, contemplating, application, and strict following of Bible based Christian salvation. Admirably but single-mindedly focused upon the verses of the Bible, they seem to oblige Christians that all worldly connections and conditions need not be there standing in the way of their devout adherence to their Bible verses in the name of Christian following. They seem to take for granted likely conflicts involving very legitimate natural gifts and blessings of creation in deference to a supposedly already all defined and circumscribed living in the grace of Christ. Thus, whether with respect to concrete lifestyle situational conflicts, or speculative sorts of figuring practical faith mandates, they adamantly point you to address and tackle the above problematic life difficulties and conflicts with "formula-like" understanding and application of the teachings of Christ. Any sort of considerations about seeming real life condescentions or adjustments are easily characterized as salvifically dangerous and blasphemous. And when you come down to the actual configuration of the lifestyle they prescribe it would seem like they expect you to be "sort of angelically capable" to fit their mold of discipleship and belief. In other words, also, when talking about the faith they teach like you have to absolutely begin from as it were a tabula rasa, ("a clear page"), no past whatsoever, when seriously beginning to follow Christ, and live like Christ. Ie. No prominence considerations in the usual ways people do and operate certain things in the real world. It seems to them it is quite alright if you buldoze your moral ways in the world. And in dealing with some truly complicated state of affairs involving the faith they would make you feel like being left in vacuo, (empty-handed) about exactly how to go about it out there. Their premise is that man is a completely rotten miserable creature. And so man absolutely supposedly just has to leave all things and everything to God in order for him to be saved. "Faith alone" shall save man from condemnation and uselessness. God will do all the works to save the believing man. For nothing of man, not his mind, and not his heart could do anything whatsoever about his life and salvation. Bottom-line: ignore whatever his mind and faculties could do; and forget his having at all a free will. And above all just crusade yourself through and through to the heathens and pagans and sinners of the world; after-all woe to them if they did not listen to you. You are not to be bothered that you "have" the grace of faith and they don't. All that matters is that you preach to them; and you may resign yourself and give up on them falling into hell’s condemnation for not listening to you.

But by what we claim to be the Catholic perspective, however, to profess belief and following of the Christian faith does not mean once you do proclaim, profess, and live the faith that presto you already are a saint. Presto, all problems solved! Yes, the grace of Christ is sufficient to live the life of Christ. And indeed Christ has overcome the world; and no obstacle is to be feared about following Christ, and entering the Kingdom he established on earth. For in the name of Jesus nothing is impossible to those who believe. However, this is the promise; but is not yet a given that therefore this world of ours, as long as we believe, has become already now a new earth, and a new heaven. The Lord clearly pointed to the End-Times when this promise of his about the New Earth, and the New Heaven shall yet come to be. That will be the time when along with a new earthly and heavenly situation, men and women of faith shall receive back their respective ‘new bodies’ with which to begin new lives or radically new personalities. Meantime, living in the world by the faith is still ‘a work-in-process’. Whereas by faith and by grace, indeed, we have the assurance to be equipped and strengthened with the grace of the Spirit to be able to witness to our faith in Christ both in words and in deed. Yet Christ understands our weak human nature such that he has given us total allowance of a lifetime to do and finish the run for his reward of ultimate salvation. (Plus, if needed, some crumming time in Purgatory.) This implies Christ awaits us to profess our faith in him moment-by-moment, or day-by-day. Christ knows fully well how we struggle each moment to even just focus on him, much less to obey him to the letter. By no means, are we implying here any yielding to sinfulness and the flesh inside of all of us. We are commended and convicted by the Spirit to surrender our heart and mind totally to Christ. But again because of our human weakness we experience more oftentimes failing than succeeding at our following of the Lord. Except for the immaculately conceived Mary, all men and women that have professed fidelity and devotion to Christ have failed, then recovered. But no one in the past had ever been absolutely faithful. We all know about Saint Peter’s experience, he whom Christ chose to lead his Church/Kingdom. He professed hard for Christ; but failed hard in his following of Christ. Then, even the high charging Saint Paul himself who has been gifted with an almost angelic-like understanding and wisdom into the life of Christ, admitted he could not claim credit for anything he has done for the Lord but for his weakness. And the Scriptures is clear with the statement that no one is to be found without guilt or sin; except him who has come to bring our salvation.

Fundamentally, we must make it clear here the essential point of reference of Saint Paul when he talked about his weakness or limitation or finitude. Saint Paul, and we think theological interpretation as well, point to Saint Paul’s or for that matter, to every man’s inability to do the good, and to refrain from evil. Man can not by way of his sheer honesty, dedication, and determination buy his ticket to heaven. Man can not save himself; and be good by his own abilities because man is sinful as a result of the original sin committed by our first parents. And God clearly stated the gates of paradise have shut out Adam and Eve and their offsprings. (Consequently, implied, however, too with this referencing to moral inadequacy are its consequences of bad judgments, proneness to errors & mistakes, as well as flawed individual faculties which have been the doings often of human inter-related misdeeds. Eg. birth hereditaries caused by moms’ bad habits, childhood emotional scars caused by broken/dysfunctional families, tragic prison confinements-producing social misfits, etc...) But this did not mean that human beings had lost all their faculties, and gifts. In the first place nowhere was it stated in the Bible that man after the fall event was no longer what we have come to call a "homo sapiens". In other words, despite the tragic effect of the original sin on all mankind, man did not lose his free will, and his rational thinking. Man through the ages remained, and demonstrated mankind able and accomplishing with his natural talents and faculties that have always belonged to human beings. Besides whichever individual with whatever physical or mental deficiency or even illness or disability, and even pain could always somehow recognize that inner and instinctual self-preservation drive, and therefore gift, that no matter how badly his/her personal conditions he/she is not easily going to just dispose of his/her life. Except probably some with very serious emotional breakdown. (Although even these latter as long as they are attended to like 24 hours a day could be dissuaded from the taking away of their life.) But we have to mark the fact that no amount of human success can ever restore man’s approval of and by God; and therefore man can never gain heaven without Christ’s salvific work of human redemption. Yet God the Father expected and wanted each man and woman to elect to accept, or not to accept, his promise and fulfilment of promise of human salvation through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In the second place, nowhere was it also stated God’s rescinding from mankind his gift of stewardship over all the rest of creations. Consequently, nothing could also prevent mankind from a most, though naturalistic, positive appreciation of creation gifts that could aid man in his yearning to return to God. And so all these being said, we claim the Catholic perspective to be that, (which I believe is the same perspective by the greater number of Christian/evangelical communities), to follow Christ and to believe to be saved consists in treading a Christian "pilgrim-living" on earth. It is as it were like evangelizing in a stand-off posturing. In other words, believers like from the early times down through the ages of the Church, live a life of looking-forward to union with Christ in Heaven while they attend to the daily grind of earthly living abiding by the teachings of Christ; and while they trust for and await on their neighbors hopefully awakening to the faith in their own due time with the Lord. In effect, they profess and try hard to be faithful to Christ; but they also embrace the reality of being with and within the world, namely "the world", which assumably belongs "to the Prince of this world". This is not to imply a pre-written code of ethics and instructions to the letter to follow to application as they go about the duties and obligations of daily living, and inter-living with all neighbors, friendly or otherwise. Theirs’ is that faithful union in spirit with Christ in the pursuit and execution of the daily duties and obligations according to everyone’s lifestyle. In effect, the believer in Christ finds his way, according to the prompting of the Spirit, by which to act and live each circumstance of his/her life in faithful advisement with the precepts of Christ and of his Church. But he does so in full embrace of the concrete conditions around which and in which he finds himself in his life. He takes into account both the positive and the negative circumstances and conditions, both externally and internally. ie. both his internal orientation, learning, training, and personality predicaments as well as all manners of conditions of his surrounding, or race, or country, or cultural/economic factors. Again, whereas apart from Christ, or apart from his grace man can not do anything of worth; nonetheless Christ or his grace operates under the particular state of possibilities or capacities an individual is in. And so he/she doesn’t tune himself/herself off to the world’s arts, sciences, technologies, music, physical nature & environment, politics, organizations & institutions, archaeology & history, philosophies & cultures, and people communities. But with open mind, most prudent discretions, and street-smart flexibility he/she tackles all the above whether suitably or unsuitably, extensively or barely, and appropriately or inappropriately as he/she moves on on his heaven-focused pilgrimage journeying on earth. But give God even the greater credit as he maximizes flexibility allowances for nature within the unlimited working of his graces. Also let man "facilitate" his way around the same benevolent and magnificent working of God’s graces on all of man’s imperfections in nature; if perchance such would be the ways to lead him to opt to accept God’s gift of salvation. Let us add this rejoinder that, after-all, the totality of earthly and human blessings remain God’s gifts and blessings; and who knows if in his Divine Providence and Wisdom they are part and parcel of Christ’s work of salvation of man?

And as regards the supposed human "rottenness and miserableness", particularly of them unfortunate alleged "unbelievers and non-believers" on account that they do not copy the ‘pure fashion’ of following Christ, let us bear in mind how Christ himself particularly brought his message of salvation directly to supposed bunches of sinners: eg. whores, drunkards, and thieves. On the contrary, indeed, are believers, thus, not to cut themselves off from ‘supposed sinners’ they find themselves surrounded with. Rather, it is there exactly where and how they are to bear witness to them, types of persons, Christ wants his faithful believers deliver his Good News. Naturally, right off the bat, this speaks of conflicts and intra-oppositions between the believers and their non-believing company of people. And of course, this involves serious adjustment problems on the part of the believers. But this is where the overpowering power of the "light of Christ", which they carry will lead them through, and where the genuineness of their "salt-preserving Christian values" will survive over sinful values of the world. Consequently, their calling under that situation is not to be condemnatory all the way around; but to be welcoming and embracing with an ever-ready spirit of understanding, forgiveness, and love without compromising a bit their professed faith. Obviously, it appears the world would somehow dictate its ways upon the believers. For, believers and non-believers alike end up watching the same conventional types of movies, entertainments, and sports that everyone else is forced into. Likewise, believers and non-believers find themselves given the same set of work rules, and even government rules. And so what is going to happen here? With respect to the arts, sports, and entertainment venues, where it is not feasible to walk-out, turning heads, or looking down, or even flatly closing or covering ones’ eyes could express their appropriate witnessing. With respect to the rules, whether company or government rules, legal defenses are to be sought after; then civil disobedience as last resort is among the witnesses’ options. But far be it that believers be trigger happy to resort to violence and destruction of goods and properties as a way of professing their faith. Nor should they pre-occupy themselves placing themselves on the elevated pedestal judging and condemning their neighbors, albeit un-believing neighbors. For today is not the time of judgment. This is not the time of mass judgment, when to everybody is made known who "goes up" and "who goes down", as shall probably be blasted aloud by the heralding angels of the heavens to highlight that momentous End-Time event. (But, yes! It is judgment time, nonetheless, for every each one whose time on earth is up.) There is, indeed, that individual judgment upon death, where no one knows what the judgment is, except God, who alone judges all of mankind. That is why nobody is to become a self-appointed judge and condemner. For the Lord said, "Judge not lest you be judged".

Let us recall here Saint Matthew’s gospel account of Chapter 13:24-30 "He proposed to them another parable: ‘The reign of God may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds through his wheat, and then made off. When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the weeds made their appearance as well. The owner’s slaves came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where are the weeds coming from?’ He answered, ‘I see an enemy’s hand in this.’ His slaves said to him ‘DO YOU WANT US TO GO OUT AND PULL THEM UP?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘pull up the weeds and you might take the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will order the harvesters, First collect the weeds and bundle them up to burn, then gather the wheat into my barn.’ " This parable aims to deliver to us the following message. Like the wheat and the weeds that have come to grow and mature along side each other, the believers and the non-believers have come to live side by side each other. But like the weeds were not told to be pulled out, and burned right away; thus non-believers and unbelievers alike who are found mixed together with believers are not to be judged and condemned as such. In the first place, who is to judge them as Christ, the predicted Judge of the End-Times, isn’t here yet on his Second Coming. Certainly not the supposed believers; lest they endanger their own condemnation for being self-righteous. In the second place, any mob-like behaviour of force could kindle even worse eventuality of mutual violence and hurting. And in the third place, like insinuated by the parable, and like we stipulated already above, it is not the time yet for determining who are worthy and who are not; or who are to be burned in hell. That is the eventuality for the End-Times, when all of mankind have been given their due course and time to receive and embrace the Lord and his teachings. And so that is THE time when the Lord shall reveal who indeed persevered in faithfulness to him, and who did not even if they did initially profess to believe. On the contrary, during that time will also be revealed when who was last would be acclaimed and rewarded as first in line close to the Lord, and whoever during lifetime were already given recognition as first during lifetime shall be judged last and farther away from the Lord’s honor of glory in judgment time. Finally, it will indeed be during judgment time when whoever belongs to the Lord shall be parted with from them who will have become abominations to the Lord; and who will deserve condemnations to hell. And woe to us if we ended up the scandalized ones when we discover, as predicted by Christ, more harlots & whores, and robbers & thieves ahead of us, or in place of us upon judgment times according as they might have outrun us and out-persevered us in the following of Christ.

Now, after setting our heart right with and for the Lord; we, moreover, are not to ignore, and be remiss in the responsibility of stewardship over the goods of the earth. After-all from the start, as recorded in the Book of Genesis, it was God’s will that they be beneficial to us; and thus, that they, all of God’s creations, be managed by us, human beings, for the needs of human beings. With Church lay ministers, who are laden with distinct responsibilities vis a vis the administering of world’s goods and wealth it is incumbent upon them as their moral duty and obligation to make sure these goods are truly beneficial, equitable, and and not laid to waste or misappropriated in the name of both fiscal and social as well as divine accountability. And this accounts for everyone with direct responsibility from way at the totem top of accountability to the bottom rank of responsibility. The President of the most powerful country, down to the head of the poorest and smallest unit of a family are all mandated and held accountable by authorities, both human and divine, to make sure they do a good job at managing and succeeding over their respective stewardship responsibility. In the process, both managers and managed could expect different degrees of prosperity and rewards of blessings. But concern and assiduousness over these affairs should only be because they are means to an end: goods stewardship for human beneficiality. But they should never become the end in itself. For then this is what will get man awry and wayward from the divine mandate over the temporal goods of the earth. This is why we are not to habitually magnify the value of natural and human goods. This is why we are not to continue to dignify world acclaimed and renowned individuals as bigger than life celebrities. This is why we may not preach of a gospel predicated upon glorified economic prosperities and affluent life of wealth. And so at this junction, we could ask the question: "Of the bountiful material and earthly goods, how much consists and how much might man appreciate of whatever there is to appreciate in each one them, including as regards man’s total physicality? In final reckoning might there not be something a whole lot better that is ultimately saved for us, though for last?"

As we recapitulate our discussion, make no mistake, however, that we are not by any stretch of the imagination defaulting on Christ’s "Great Commission" and call to preach his Gospel to all peoples and all nations. And we are not short-selling the Spirit character of integrity and zeal for Christ and his every word of revelation. We are neither to deny the evil of un-belief and non-belief in the world, and the existence of the Devil and real Devil followers in the world. Evangelization is a holy and real call. And opposition and persecution against Christ and his teachings, specifically the reality of sins and their devastating toll on the human race are indicators why Christ came with his business of salvation; according as he has promised. For fundamentally, the fallen man, who had fallen not without the "serpent’s" evil-doing was precisely the reason why the Son of God came down and came as the Saviour in order to raise man up from his fallen state, and rescue him from the captivity by the Devil. These are the fundamentals of our faith.

But, as a highlight, the negative critique-part on some Christian evangelizers aims to correct simplistic treatment and delivering of Christ’s Gospel to the people of the world. The constructive critique-part of the good-stuff about the world aims to acknowledge how actually providential God has always been notwitstanding his most strongly ‘telling man off’ for disobedience to his very first Divine precept.

Also, this discussion must not be interpreted in the same and equal strand as the contemporary ethos of "political correctness" or moral/theological compromise. And neither is this intending a support of some kind for the concepts in the mold of a "philosophical material/economic and geo-political/world progressivism". For Christ never ever endorsed the pursuit of the goods of this earth. On the contrary, he stipulated himself and his believers as not belonging to the Kingdom of this world. He marked the fact that actually the people of this world will persecute his disciples and followers like they persecuted him, and killed him. And as regards the having of the riches of this world, he said it would be easier for a camel to enter the hole of the kneedle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Parallel to this statement he also said the gates to the Kingdom of God is narrow; but the gates to perdition is wide. Then the hardest statement he told us about the love for this life in the world, he said he who saves his life will lose it; but he who loses it shall save his soul. Then a climactic word from him, "No one can serve two masters; either he will love one; or hate the other. But no one can serve both God and ‘mammon’ (eg. flesh & wealth) ".

Thus, evidently Jesus gave the message that we are not to give way too much importance to the goods of this world. They are not worth it especially if they get to be detrimental to our salvation. He also said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his soul?" Instead he urged us not to worry at all about what to eat or wear as our Father in heaven has us covered for all our needs. But as long as we trust him, and ask him everyday our sustenance and up-keep. As for rest of our wants, Saint Paul echoed the Lord by telling us that if we have some food to eat and clothes to wear on our back, there’s nothing else that matters for us as long as we are occupied for our faith in Christ.

And now as our final point: what could and will matter as our real stuff to keep to the end; even if it may be the least in importance, ‘Come Kingdom come’.

When Christ met with Saint Mary Magdalene, the very first human being on-record that he appeared to after his rising from death – (except probably his Mother and our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary); and when Saint Mary Magdalene probably gestured towards kissing the Lord, (maybe his hands or his feet), Jesus stopped her; and commanded her not to touch him as he has not risen yet to heaven. I repeat the fact that, on-record, the Lord Jesus did not appear first to one of his twelve Apostles; neither to Saint John, nor to Saint Peter. He bestowed the honor to the famed sinner, whom he changed to becoming a very holy woman: Mary Magdalene. And yet Mary Magdalene was precisely just a woman, not a man, who by Jewish tradition commands honorary rank over a woman. More relevantly, she was not an Apostle, nor somebody designated by the Apostles to carry some function and position of ministry. Then she had that lifetime refutation as a harlot and whore, which by the measure of the world cast her at the lowest classification in humanity. But God chose her to be given the honor, the pleasure, and the distinction as the first human being, on-record, to encounter the risen Son of God.

Surely, by the order of priority, the Head of the Church, and Christ’s own Vicar on earth: Saint Peter deserved to be the first to have an audience with the resurrected and returning Lord Jesus. But it was not what transpired and what God has deigned and made to take place. Rather, the Easter historical event of Christ’s first-time appearance, on-record, had to be with Saint Mary Magdalene.

This made Saint Mary Magdalene one very distinguished and very special woman and human being in history and in the Church. That, on-the-record, she even seemed to out-distinguish the Lord’s Mother and our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary all the more highlighted this accorded glory to Saint Mary Magdalene. (Yet again, we emphasize here that we are only establishing what was on-record that had been allowed us to know regarding Jesus’ first apparition; and hence the consequential accorded honor and glory that could be ascribed to Mary Magdalene per limited historical data of what was recorded. But we do not by any means in so doing here to relegate to second fiddle Mother Mary behind Mary Magdalene by honor and rank in relation to her Son, and in relation to the Church. What was on-record does not take away what could have taken place off-the-record, namely Jesus’ actually and really seeing his Mother first among all creatures.)

But we have made the point: namely, that Saint Mary Magdalene in the history of the Church, and in relation to our Lord Jesus Christ enjoys some sort of priority or primacy as a special person, who has become so close to the Lord.

Nonetheless, let us take note of the fact that the Lord forbade her to touch him before he was ascended to heaven. That so much has the Lord given special favor to Saint Mary Magdalene while yet on earth by no means entitled her to receiving the real favors God rewards the citizens of heaven, and the would-be citizens of the new earth upon Christ’s Second Coming. Notwitstanding the tremendous amount of graces that Saint Mary Magdalene has become a recipient and beneficent by Christ’s work of salvation at the time of Jesus’ appearance to her, at that juncture she remained barred from the fuller union with Christ, which has been reserved only for the already-citizens of heaven, and later for the survivors at the End-Times. One inference from an analysis of the Magdalene event here will give us some understanding into what it takes to be fully united with God. It takes the total purification of the person or the soul. It is the requisite for souls that are allowed entrance to heaven. And this will be the same requisite and state of the souls when they will finally be rewarded with salvation, plus resurrection of their bodies, similar to Christ’s resurrection, when such bodies unite with their respective individual soul owners. This scenario of the future Eschatological event defines the ultimate shared glory of the Resurrected, and the returning Lord Jesus Christ with all his faithful believers-followers as they take back and ‘incorporate’ with their resurrected bodies. What an awesome scene; and what an un-imaginable truly glorious day! That will be the day! The day of the New Earth, and the New Heaven. The day of final reckoning for all that have lived on earth. The day of judgment! And the day of the blissful union with God, and all the blessed of heaven: angels and saints altogether.

In other words, this is the answer to our previous question about what or which will be our last earthly and physical gift before that final glory of the heavenly face-to-face vision of and union with God in the New Heaven. It consists in the day when we shall get to experience something akin to the experience of our first parents, that we never knew, about living with an incorruptible body; and when once and for all our bodies shall no longer give us nuisances, irritation, dismay, disgust, pains, aches, and all types of unhappiness that have pested men of all ages and generations. And the most awesome of all: a permanent life without sickness and without death! An eternal life of glorious union with God!